In 2016, The Army’s chief information officer announced the release of the Army’s new, long-term, network strategy called “Shaping the Army Network (2025-2040).” The document discusses the projected operational environment and required capabilities to set the context for what the future network must enable; describes what the network of 2025 is expected to look like, and serves as the baseline from which the network of 2025 to 2040 will be built; It contains a description of the network of 2040, including the capabilities that it will provide and the future technologies that may enable it.
“Shaping the Army Network: 2025-2040 provides the long-term strategic direction for Army enterprise network modernization within the context of the Army Operating Concept,” Lt. Gen. Robert Ferrell, the Army’s chief information officer/G-6, writes in the new strategy. “Using the IT baseline described in the Army Network Campaign Plan as a starting point, the intent is to guide development of science and technology requirements to get to ‘what’s next,’ in the evolution of the Army.”
Army Directive 2017-24 established the Network Cross-Functional Team pilot. The team formed and achieved initial operating capability in November 2017. The cross-functional team consists of a core team of experts in acquisition, science and technology, testing and evaluation, development, training, and integration and engages with multiple organizations, to include industry and academia, for coordination and support.
The Army strategy created a process by which it experiments and learns about a broad array of technologies. The Army created the Network Cross-Functional Team (N-CFT) to augment traditional acquisition through rapid prototyping and experimentation. The N-CFT is a subordinate organization to the Army Futures Command, combining people, responsibilities, and funding from the requirements, research and development, and systems analysis communities. The N-CFT experimentation informs requirements and design for future
acquisition programs.
The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Army to submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the Army strategy or “modernizing air-land ad-hoc, mobile tactical communications and data networks.” The Chief of Staff of the Army developed a
strategy intended to enable the Army to “fight tonight” while seeking technical solutions in order to modernize the Army’s communications. The Army’s strategy recognized that its network had not evolved to enable decisive action against a peer threat in a highly mobile and contested environment. To correct this, the Army seeks to pivot away from traditional acquisition by including non‑developmental items and commercial off-the-shelf technologies with programs of record to build its tactical network
The Army’s new network modernization strategy is designed to enable the Army to “fight tonight” while also actively seeking next-generation solutions to stay ahead of potential adversaries. This strategy is a fundamental change in the Army’s approach to tactical network modernization, which is aimed at keeping pace with threats in the near-term and developing a future network through rapid insertion of new technology and focused science and technology efforts.
This new network-modernization strategy, known as Halt, Fix and Pivot, aims to: Halt the programs that do not address operational requirements; Fix the programs that are necessary to fulfill the most critical operational needs now; and Pivot to a more agile “adapt and buy” acquisition strategy.
The 2019 Senate Appropriations Report 115-290 directed the Army to submit to the congressional defense committees a “network acquisition roadmap” that addressed six objectives, a “test and evaluation plan,” and a notification of “completion of cyber and vulnerability test and evaluation of the enabling [secure but unclassified] capabilities.” The Senate Report required this of the Army prior to fielding any additional secure but unclassified systems to operational units after FY19. The Under Secretary of the Army submitted the Army Tactical Network Acquisition Strategy Roadmap on March 1, 2019, that detailed the acquisition roadmap. This document expanded upon the 2018 Army Network Modernization Strategy by including a more detailed description of the four lines of effort that compose
the network strategy, specific ties to operational needs, and alignment of funding details.
The Army initiated a Capability Set acquisition and fielding model to modernize the network over time. Starting with Capability Set 21, the Army has a goal to modernize components within the four lines of effort to make the network more expeditionary and intuitive. Capability Set 21 includes existing fielded systems (i.e. Warfighter Information Network – Tactical), programs beginning full-rate production (i.e. Manpack and Leader Radio), and the MTA rapid prototyping systems. The MTA rapid prototyping effort will transition to a rapid
fielding or program of record. The focus of Capability Set 21 is Infantry Brigade Combat Teams. The Army intends to field a new capability set every 2 years. The Army submitted the ITN test and evaluation strategy to Congress in September 2019. The test and evaluation strategy supports the ITN rapid prototyping MTA program and the fielding decision for Capability Set 21. The capstone event of the test and evaluation strategy is a Soldier Touch Point with an infantry battalion during a field training exercise. DOT&E is engaged with the N-CFT and ATEC to develop a plan to collect the data required to support the development of the ITN requirements and the decision to field Capability Set 21. Follow‑on strategies will be required for capability sets for FY23
and beyond.
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