The Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture, or JCWA, was established in 2019 and has been slowly taking shape. The aim is to consolidate and standardize Cyber Command’s big-data tools that help forces share information and plan missions. The command previously relied on tools, personnel and infrastructure from the National Security Agency.

“I would say it’s moving forward, we are getting momentum,” Nguyen said. The command, through congressionally approved defense policy, has been able to establish a program executive office for the JCWA, for one.

The command and the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Acquisition & Sustainment office is working to stand up the PEO, he said, and in 2023, the command obtained system engineering and integration authority over the JCWA.

“What that means is we now have the authority to define the interoperability standards between the different components to help better drive better integration and better interoperability between different systems,” Nguyen said.

The JCWA is currently made up of six components: A persistent cyber training environment and the Joint Common Access Platform (JCAP), which are both run by the Army; a Unified Platform to take in, analyze and pass data, and Joint Cyber Command and Control, both under Air Force purview; and portfolios of sensors and tools, managed by Cyber Command.

Next up, as part of the establishment of the PEO JCWA, the command is working to get more acquisition authority over the program management shops that belong to the services, according to Nguyen.

This would mean the command would be able to approve programs of record as well as acquisition and contracting strategies, he explained. “That will give us a much more holistic ability to move everybody forward singularly.”

Additionally, the command has been able to conduct analysis and gain understanding of the different components of the architecture and a better understanding of the capabilities that exist within JCWA. Through that analysis, several initiatives were born to reduce redundancies, Nguyen said.

For example, he said, the programs of record all have their own software factory where software development is conducted. The command is now working to combine some software factories as a result.

“By reducing software factories, one, there’ll be some cost efficiencies,” Nguyen said, “but more importantly if you think of SolarWinds, SolarWinds was an attack on the software factory, so this will ensure we have a much better ability to defend our supply chain and so on from a software development environment perspective.”

The SolarWinds was a cyberattack in 2019 that led to data breaches for at least 200 organizations worldwide. The attackers, believed to be backed by the Russian government, exploited software or credentials at Microsoft, SolarWinds and VMware.

In another effort to reduce redundancy, the command is looking to combine or develop a singular platform to host applications.

The platform would be government furnished equipment that the command would give to all program shops “and say, ‘Hey, this is a common platform, Kubernetes environment, that we’re going to define and you will just deliver your application as containers or as virtual machines onto this common platform,” Nguyen said.

Kubernetes is an automated workload and services management platform that works within a container system. It was originally developed by Google.

The platform, “allows more efficiencies in the applications and then also, importantly, with this common platform we’re able to deploy it in different environments. We can deploy it within the cloud, we can deploy it on an edge processing or our [joint cyber] hunt kit and so on with a common platform,” he said, “and then the variances will be based on the application sets that were delivered on top of that.”

The Terrestrial Layer System-Echelons Above Brigade, or TLS-EAB, is envisioned for use by larger Army formations including divisions and corps with thousands upon thousands of troops and extensive firepower. The system is considered a key part of the service’s “deep-sensing” playbook, or the ability to identify, monitor, target and strike opponents from farther distances and with greater precision.

Mark Kitz, the leader of the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors, or PEO IEW&S, said the Army is “evolving our acquisition approach,” specifically for flexibility. Targets and topography in the Indo-Pacific, where the U.S. could come to blows with China, and Europe, where it could clash with Russia, are radically different, for example.

“I don’t think we’re going to get to production with an EAB capability,” Kitz said during the virtual C4ISRNET Conference on April 26. “I think we’re going to build tailored solutions to the combatant commands we’re going to operate in, and iterate that over and over and over again, so that we build, sort of, a specific solution for the different type of contested and congested environments we’ll see.”

The TLS-EAB might not be well-suited for the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles in the Indo-Pacific, Kitz said. In Europe, where far less island-hopping is required, the heavy-duty trucks might be the best option.

“INDOPACOM looks very different than Africa, looks very different than anywhere,” he said. “We can’t just cookie cutter a solution that’s going to marginally work in that combatant command.”

Defense officials consider China and Russia to be serious national security threats. Both have invested in military science and technology, and are thought capable of hampering or withstanding U.S. military communications, targeting and attacks.

The Army in August inked separate deals with Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics Mission Systems for TLS-EAB concepts and demonstrations. The first phase was valued at $15 million over 11 months. Lockheed and General Dynamics are among the top five largest defense contractors in the world when ranked by revenue, according to Defense News analysis.

Kitz said much opportunity exists for both industry and government partnership as TLS-EAB is roughed out and realized.

“We’re keeping an open mind,” he said, “and trying to come up with the right acquisition approach that gets the right capability for our commanders in each of those combatant commands.”

WASHINGTON — Prototype work on combined electronic warfare, cyber and signals intelligence technology to be mounted into U.S. Army armored vehicles will happen this year, with eyes set on operational demonstrations in 2024, according a service official.

The so-called Terrestrial Layer System, or TLS, is designed to provide soldiers greater situational awareness on the battlefield, as well as improved means to disrupt or dismantle enemy networks.

Mark Kitz, who leads the Army’s Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors, or PEO IEW&S, said the service “has some very positive momentum” regarding TLS, including the “prototyping for our armored brigades, on an AMPV platform.”

The AMPV, or Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, will replace the Vietnam War-era M113 troop carrier, hundreds of which have been committed to Ukraine to help push back the Russian invasion. The AMPV shares common components with the Army fleet, including howitzers, a factor service officials say will ease logistics and maintenance demands.

“It’s really critical for the Army, and the joint services, to understand that future operating environment that we’re going to fight in,” Kitz said at the 22nd annual C4ISRNET Conference, held virtually April 26. “And being able to see far, being able to sense deep and being able to understand that environment is really critical to the future of how we want to operate.”

Modern warfare often revolves around control of the electromagnetic spectrum, relied upon for weapons guidance, communication with friendly forces and the identification of foes in the field. The Army is attempting to beef up its electronic warfare arsenal for large-scale battles with the likes of China or Russia after years of focusing on counterterrorism and the Middle East.

“I think our investments now are very different, as we get into a multi-domain operations fight,” Kitz said of electronic warfare spending. “In order to deliver an effect, you’ve got to be able to do it much more surgically.”

PEO IEW&S earlier this month tapped Lockheed Martin to fit TLS tech onto Stryker combat vehicles, made by General Dynamics, and kicked off “the system design” for mounting into AMPVs, made by BAE Systems.

The deal is valued at $73 million. Lockheed is the world’s largest defense contractor when ranked by revenue, according to Defense News analysis.

The green light for the Maryland-based company to work on AMPV integration follows both a previous TLS award in July, worth about $59 million, and delivery of the AMPV to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart in Georgia.