Network-Centric Naval Forces A Transition Strategy for Enhancing Operational Capabilities (2000) / Chapter Skim
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6 Realizing Naval Command and Information Infrastructure Capabilities
6 Realizing Naval Command and Information Infrastructure Capabilities
Pages 219-288
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From page 219... ...
6.1 BASELINE NAVAL SYSTEMS 6.1.1 Introduction The communications and information needs of the Navy and Marine Corps follow from the unique characteristics of and tasks assigned to warships and Marine units. The maritime environment and the requirement to operate with iTnformation assurance, however, is treated separately in Chapter 5.
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From page 220... ...
Because of tightly coupled lift, communications, fire support, and logistics dependencies, it is hard to imagine the Navy and Marine Corps operating in a forward area in isolation from one another, although they may well operate independently of Army and Air Force units under some circumstances. Increasingly, however, naval forces must fit into a greater joint forces construct, and this, in turn, requires enhanced communications to assure connectivity with other
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From page 221... ...
capabilities and the availability of ISR information aboard aircraft carriers and fleet flagships, the major afloat command nodes for naval forces. To realize the benefits offered by synergies between all ship types in a battle group or amphibious task force, it soon became evident that the communications and command and control (C2)
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From page 222... ...
Full SATCOM capability for all surface combatants; · Major capacity enhancements to amphibious ship communications; · Improved shipboard command and control capabilities such as GCCS-M and improved planning and decision tools; Enhanced support communications, processing, and storage; Robust shipboard local area networks; Modern personal computer workstations and commercial-based operating system; . Matching capacity upgrades at shore communications hubs; and · Measures to improve information assurance and security.
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From page 223... ...
initiative discussed below. 6.1.3 Navy/Marine Corps Intranet At the time IT-21 was initiated, funding constraints precluded inclusion of the business side of the Navy and its shore support infrastructure in a comprehensive IT upgrade program.
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From page 225... ...
have been and are continuing to be employed by naval forces for basic communications in all types of operational and physical propagation environments. These capabilities have been operated in combinations of network configurations, including point-to-point, broadcast, and multicast, using a wide range of protocols for access and use of the network.
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From page 228... ...
Turning to the Marine Corps, a MAGTF commander is able to communicate with ships and between his units using UHF/VHF line-of-sight and HF radios during the early phases of a classic amphibious operation. But because of the fluid nature of such operations, establishing and maintaining communications between units has always been challenging.
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From page 234... ...
All Navy ships, Marine Corps units, and Navy and Marine Corps headquarters are fully interoperable. They also have seamless message traffic connectivity with other military services and joint headquarters and can exchange the track data needed for the common operational picture, provided a common COE software version is installed.
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From page 235... ...
It provides connectivity with the joint task force commander, other component commanders, and afloat naval forces. GCCS-M comes with a number of mission and support applications.
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From page 236... ...
6.2.1 Communications and Networking General Three kinds of requirements for communications and networking are fundamental for the considerations of this section: · Connectivity and configurability: the ability to establish communications among the required parties in a timely manner; · Capacity: the availability of bandwidth for the voice, data, and video information that must be transferred in operational missions; and . Interoperability: the ability to exchange information with other parties, including with other naval forces, with other Services and joint elements, and with coalition partners.
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From page 237... ...
. Tactical data links typically have data rates well below 1 Mbps, although some direct tactical feeds from sensors have data rates up to hundreds of megabytes per second (e.g., the common data link (CDL)
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From page 238... ...
Other statements of requirements presented in the POM bandwidth memorandum derive from naval SATCOM user requirements4 and Emerging Requirements Database (ERDB) for Satellite Communications, Version 6.5 These requirements studies considered the satellite communications requirements of naval forces deployed in a single major regional conflict (MRC)
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From page 239... ...
; SSN, nuclear-powered attack submarine. SOURCE: Data courtesy of Marine corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, vat, 1999.
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From page 240... ...
That is, a ship cannot make full use of available SATCOM capacity unless it has adequate antennas and terminal equipment, and antenna space is well known to be at a premium on ships. Still, while this is an important factor, it does not seem to adequately explain the discrepancy.
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From page 241... ...
. If network-centric operations are going to involve significantly increased information transfer over the tactical data links, increased capacity could well be required.
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From page 242... ...
The future Navy/Marine Corps intranet development effort and the ongoing IT-21 effort will not only provide an expanded range of communications services to extended user population, but will also enhance interoperabilty among naval forces. Also, the evolving deployment and use of MILSTAR terminals will produce significant improvement in joint interoperability since all MILSTAR terminals share a set of common modes (along with Service-unique modes)
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From page 243... ...
As a practical matter, as pointed out in an earlier Naval Studies Board study,l° bandwidth requirements will inevitably push the naval forces toward the use of commercial satellite and other communication links (as has happened already in the Balkan operations, for example)
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From page 244... ...
The reasons for this variation include the following: The allocation of RF spectrum to different communications services; Differences in required signaling rate; Differences in required resistance to interference; Differences in required resistance to interception; Different needs for directional and omnidirectional antennas; and Improvements in modulation schemes. Consequently, the likelihood that two randomly selected radios will have the same carrier frequency, bandwidth, modulation scheme, and signaling rate is low.
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From page 245... ...
Even if they are in production, there may be little competition, which could mean a low-production-volume environment and high prices. 6.2.2.1.2 Modular Radios Waveform interoperability will not be achieved by legislating and enforcing a universal waveform; there are too many legacy systems to be ignored, and there are legitimate reasons to use different waveforms over different paths.
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From page 246... ...
Consumers routinely download software to improve the performance of their programmable modems used over commercial telephone lines. 6.2.2.1.3 Programs Developing Programmable Modular Radios New single-purpose radios are to some extent both modular and programmable, although they are seldom programmable by the user.
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Joint Combat Information Terminal (JCIT) program for use in the helicopter-borne Army Airborne Command and Control System and is now in limited production.
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From page 249... ...
However, the committee believes that PMRs are achievable for most communications waveforms. The technical problems in handling the JTIDS waveform in a modular radio can be overcome with a relatively modest investment; the political problem can be defused by pointing out that modular radios are just another way of implementing a JTIDS radio.
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From page 250... ...
The power received is equal to the power transmitted multiplied by the fraction of the service area intercepted by the antenna. For further elaboration, see Wald, B., 1997, Trade-o~s Among UAV and Satellite Communications Relays, CNA Research Memorandum 97-84, Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, Va., October.
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From page 251... ...
In the light of this conclusion, the committee suggests that the Department of the Navy, while continuing to push available technology in programs like the AMRFS, should also seek to validate potential breakthrough technologies and should attempt to adapt its transport architectures to the use of future low-cost electronically steered antennas developed for commercial applications. 6.2.2.2.2 Submarine Antennas Submarine microwave antennas are smaller than their shipboard and even their airborne counterparts.
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From page 252... ...
Two-way communication to a submerged submarine would be possible through the use of towed buoys or an acoustically linked autonomous vehicle. One response to this situation would be to perform system engineering to quantify the effect of an improved communications rate, for both periscope depth and deeply submerged submarines, on the effectiveness of the entire network in relation to the cost involved.
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From page 253... ...
6.2.2.3.3 Implementation The committee found no Department of the Navy program dedicated to developing architecture and apparatus to permit dismounted troops to interoperate well with other component systems, although multiple technology and PLI pro
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From page 254... ...
Further actions would be to experiment with hub-and-spoke implementations of this architecture and to procure appropriate terminal equipment jointly. 6.2.2.4 Resistance to an Adversary's Actions Connectivity must be maintained in the face of an adversary's attempts to disrupt or exploit the wireless signals.
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From page 255... ...
and to take necessary actions to repair or work around those problems (e.g., network reconfiguration) ; · Authorizing users and applications to access shared network resources; · Defining and updating closed user groups; and .
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From page 256... ...
Over the next few years new versions of the underlying Internet protocols may provide the means to offer new network resource management capabilities of military importance. For example, version 6 of the Internet Protocol (IPv6)
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From page 257... ...
Even if the emerging technical capabilities become available, the Navy and Marine Corps will still have to confront difficult questions in applying them to their needs. How access privilege gets assigned correctly to a limited set of users when people's lives are at stake is one such difficult example.
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From page 260... ...
As such, it represents an example not known to be within current research programs but that the naval services should be considering and possibly pursuing for the NCII. Although it will have implications beyond resource management, the idea proposed here represents a major new adjunct to present infrastructure systems that will facilitate the military use of packet systems.
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From page 261... ...
Additionally, they must also be examined closely for any vulnerabilities they add. 6.2.4 Collection Management The collection management process determines the data collection plan for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)
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In summary, current collection management capabilities have significant limitations and fall well short of the timely and flexible information management capabilities envisioned for the NCII. The Joint Collection Management Tasking (JCMT)
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The TPED baseline/modernization plan mentioned above should help steer current collection management systems toward such capabilities. An example that takes a dramatically different approach to next-generation tools is the DARPA Advanced ISR Management program.
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From page 264... ...
Integration | Extraction ~ _ Anurenation Fusion I Level 3 - Capability and Intent \ \ / \ >1 Abstraction A Consistent Structured Representation CTP, COP, Other Needs FIGURE 6.9 Phases of the information exploitation process. COP, common operational picture; CTP, common tactical picture.
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From page 265... ...
Lastly, when information is exploited successfully, the result is a consistent representation of the battlespace situation that includes specific views, such as a common tactical picture (CTP) or, at the CINC level, the common operational picture (COP)
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From page 266... ...
Conceptually, the COP should mean a consistent and not a common operational picture because, ideally, it is derived from a single, consistent, structured representation of the battlespace. Under the present COP formulation, information is collected at all levels, with the lower levels percolating upward what they
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From page 267... ...
A worthwhile objective might be to find some type of template system that would permit tailoring tactical presentations while still retaining a consistent, perhaps standard ontology for the information used. 6.2.5.3 Future Capabilities Information exploitation has a number of long-term requirements: .
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From page 268... ...
The naval services should track and participate in exploitation research and sponsor it in areas particularly germane to them, since such research is critical to establishing information products, such as the COP and CTP. 6.2.6 Information Request and Dissemination Management Users have many sources of information; they, in turn, create more information using their own value-added processes.
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From page 269... ...
More specifically, these new capabilities focus on the core services shown in Figure 6.10. These core services are transitioning from the DARPA Battlespace Awareness and Data Dissemination program and the Bosnia Command and Control Augmentation system, in conjunction with the DISA Information Dissemination Management and Global Broadcast System programs.l5 The services, which will become part of the DII COE, comprise awareness, access, delivery, and support for information needs.
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From page 270... ...
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From page 271... ...
Given the importance of information dissemination management to the NCII, the naval services should closely monitor and work with this program. Several important challenges face the program.
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From page 272... ...
The dynamic nature of information management, its changing run-time environment, and the changing way in which information is used, even ad hoc, offer special challenges in adaptation to the teams of mobile agents. 6.2.7 Information Presentation and Decision Support 6.2.7.1 Introduction The Common Tactical and Operational Pictures Just how much a substantial increase in the amount and timeliness of information can help a commander achieve his military objectives is to a large degree determined by how and when that information is presented.
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From page 273... ...
Much of the present COP/CTPs has to do with the sighting and tracks of red, blue, and neutral platforms in the sea and air or on the ground. Some intelligence products such as i8The responsibility for maintaining the CTP, COP, and CTD, their general composition, and the associated information flow and management are outlined in the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction CJCSI 3151.01, June 10, 1997, "Global Command and Control System Common Operational Picture Reporting Requirements," Washington, D.C.
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From page 275... ...
For the Marine Corps, a variant of the CTP is the principal battlespace picture in exercises such as Urban Warrior and the Extended Littoral Battlespace ACTD. The use of COP and CTP is a big advance over the previous practices that relied on separate display systems, each containing different information of relevance to the overall battlespace picture.
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From page 276... ...
7.3.1 General Considerations Research issues in information presentation that should be pursued to provide the flexible and responsive information management capabilities ultimately envisioned for the NCII include the following: · New viewing paradigms other than just two-dimensional maps that include ways to quickly and intuitively grasp items of importance while deemphasizing less meaningful items; . Automatic picture updates based on event-driven and temporal cues; · Consistency over time and between command and functional levels in the portrayal of the battlespace and the displays on which it is depicted; · Continuous planning methods that adapt to changing events or courses of action; and · Methods that can, from the assembled information, suggest an enemy commander's intent or course of action.
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From page 277... ...
The tool should be easy to use and understand, have definable types of information and levels of detail, and be aware of the system resources available that carry and display the information needed. If developed, an OA tool would have broader applicability than just information presentation and decision support, but clearly it would be important to that functional area.
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From page 278... ...
meet; and inventory. All previously used information flows and their corresponding equip· Equipment required for a specific information need; · Needs not satisfied by equipment in the inventory, indigenous or leased; · Unit or platform locations not covered by elements in the system This type of tool should fit easily under a DARPA program now under way called Active Templates.
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From page 279... ...
Activities such as the Extended Littoral Battlespace ACID are examining procedural and technical means for the real-time distribution of friendly and enemy force situation data. Another factor is BDA.
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From page 280... ...
6.3 RECOMMENDATIONS The committee's findings and recommendations, based on the foregoing discussion and assessment of progress toward realizing the functional capabilities needed in a common command and information infrastructure for the naval forces, are presented and discussed here.
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From page 281... ...
is also providing necessary functional capabilities (e.g., for information dissemination management and information presentation)
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From page 282... ...
Recommendation: The Department of the Navy should make maximum feasible use of emerging commercial satellite communications infrastructure and technology. 6.3.1.2 Communications and Networking Wireless 6.3.1.2.1 Waveform Interoperability Finding: Programmable modular radios are achievable for most communications waveforms.
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From page 283... ...
However, developmental antenna systems may not be affordable unless requirements are tailored or a breakthrough technology appears. Recommendation: While continuing to push available technology in programs like the Advanced Multifunction Radio Frequency System, the Department of the Navy should also seek to validate potential breakthrough technologies and should attempt to adapt its transport architectures to the use of future low-cost electronically steered antennas developed for commercial applications.
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From page 284... ...
6.3.1.5 Information Exploitation Finding: The common operational and tactical pictures are primary means for representing the battlespace situation. Automated extraction of individual targets is accomplished, but much manual intervention is required to build a consistent representation of the overall battlespace in the COP and CTP.
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From page 285... ...
6.3.1.6 Information Request and Dissemination Management Finding: Significantly increased ability for users to locate and transparently access information is promised by the information dissemination management (IDM) capabilities currently being deployed.
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From page 286... ...
Finding: Conferencing, to include video teleconferencing, has proven valuable to naval forces in planning, exchanging information, and decision making. Recommendation: The Department of the Navy should explore and incorporate as feasible the advances in conferencing capability (e.g., immersive, virtual roundtables)
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From page 287... ...
Many of the functional capabilities are not under the direct control of the Department of the Navy, as would occur in a traditional program management situation. For example, SATCOM assets are shared, collection management occurs partly in the intelligence community, and next-generation information dissemination management is being developed by a USAF executive agent and will most likely be maintained by DISA.
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From page 288... ...
Incorporating research products into acquisition programs requires that the research products be matured ("hardened"~. The naval services would have to allocate funds for this, which are perhaps best kept separate from the acquisition programs so they will not be absorbed for other purposes.
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