{"id":13213,"date":"2018-03-30T15:29:23","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T15:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/30\/how-a-new-army-team-plans-to-modernize-the-network\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:49:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:49:26","slug":"how-a-new-army-team-plans-to-modernize-the-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/show-reporter\/global-force-symposium\/2018\/03\/30\/how-a-new-army-team-plans-to-modernize-the-network\/","title":{"rendered":"How a new Army team plans to modernize the network"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
Maj. Gen. Pete Gallagher, the director of the Army’s cross-functional team in charge of network modernization, updates C4ISRNET on the unit’s status.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

After 17 years of war against low-tech adversaries, Army leaders understand that the next fight will be against high-end threats and recognize the need to modernize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the critical modernization points is the Army\u2019s tactical network, which leaders have determined won\u2019t stack up against sophisticated enemies who can detect electronic signatures, jam signals and conduct cyber attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, a newly established cross functional team is focusing on two priorities to meet these challenges: the unified tactical network and coalition interoperability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe unified tactical network is about what are we going to deliver that allows us to fight and win in a contested environment against a peer adversary,\u201d Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher, the network team lead, explained at the AUSA conference. He told reporters earlier this month that the Army is concerned about what soldiers need beyond the current tactical network, Warfighter Information Network-Tactical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s advanced line of sight capabilities, it\u2019s a multi-path solution set, it\u2019s more dynamic spectrum allocation across the network, low probably of intercept and low probability of detection in our radio systems,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is about optimizing what we currently call our lower tactical internet, fixing our radio systems to get out of a box-centric, waveform-centric solution and really think of the network as more of an ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many of these solutions will improve the network over time, the Army is working on short term wins in the interim<\/a>. That\u2019s where experimentation comes in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of experimentation<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key changes for the Army recently has been an emphasis on speed and soldier feedback through experimentation, prototyping and adaptation. Officials equate this to the DevOps model popular in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlready we\u2019re seeing the benefit of accelerated learning, if you will, from some of the experimentation that Gen. Gallagher and the team have done,\u201d Maj. Gen. David Bassett, Program Executive Officer of C3T, said during a panel the AUSA Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama March 27. \u201cThings that I may not have learned until much later in the acquisition cycle, we\u2019re pushing that left and we\u2019re learning those lessons earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bassett added that the CFT is encouraging the acquisition community to experiment more quickly and to get feedback from soldiers faster. This in turn allows for an improved understanding of systems in ways that may not have previously existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example is the security force assistance brigades (SFABs) in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\t