The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is in the process of building the massive technology infrastructure that will enable Network Centric Warfare. Once complete, this infrastructure will allow geographically dispersed forces to attain a high level of shared battle awareness that can be exploited to achieve strategic, operational, and tactical objectives. Booz Allen Hamilton Vice President Sam Porgess moderated a panel discussion on "The Enabling Factor of Network Centric Warfare" at the May 31-June 1, 2005, ISCe Conference and Expo held in Long Beach, California.

The panel also included Brig Gen Ellen Pawlikowski, Program Director, MILSATCOM JPO, U.S. Air Force Space & Missile Systems Center (SMC) - U.S. Air Force Space Command; Mike Kern, Senior System Engineer, Global Information Grid - Office of the Secretary of Defense; John Landon, Assistant Secretary of Defense, C3ISR and IT Acquisition Programs (acting) - OASD/NII; and Capt. Francis "Luke" Lukenbill, Director, Acquisition and Engineering Group, Communication Systems, Acquisition and Operations - National Reconnaissance Office.

Putting the technology in place requires development, integration, and operational deployment of a set of infrastructure programs that will provide satellite and terrestrial communications transport, IP-based networking, information assurance, and enterprise services for the commander and warfighter. The panelists discussed synchronizing these infrastructure programs to meet the Network Centric Warfare timeline, acquisition and development approaches, and technical and programmatic challenges.

"The panel discussion was focused on building the infrastructure," said Porgess. "Most panels that discuss Network Centric warfare focus on policy and operations, but there have been very few that have talked about the underlying infrastructure that will enable this important operational capability. This panel brought together the engineers, developers, and policy experts to discuss development of this infrastructure."

"The technology challenges involved in this effort are massive," Porgess explained. "We are trying to build something that is not going to be fielded for years, so you don't want to build it with today's technology. Instead, you have to place intelligent bets on the capabilities of emerging technology, but that entails risk. Mitigating this risk to achieve the desired performance within schedule and cost is a complex subject."

story posted July 26, 2005