Communications, Networks and Electronic Warfare
The success of military operations depends on reliable, available, secure, and synchronized command and control and situational awareness at every military echelon, from the continental U.S. to the warfighter at the edge. While wired communications and networks are fairly well developed, providing assured high bandwidth mobile wireless capabilities that match or exceed commercial wired infrastructure is desired.
The goal of the Communications, Networks and Electronic Warfare thrust is to develop and demonstrate technologies that will provide effective communications to U.S. forces while denying the same capabilities to our adversaries. Approaches to this goal include developing technologies that increase network capacity and scaling, enhance spectrum efficiency in congested spectrum, tolerate network degradation, provide man-made and natural electromagnetic interference mitigation, defeat network reconnaissance and surveillance, and counter denial of service and other cybersecurity threats. A focus within this thrust is the creation of advanced capabilities through the synergistic integration of communications, networks, electronic warfare, cyber, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) technologies.
This thrust is focused on mobile wireless communication systems and networks with a goal of providing the performance and adaptability of DoD fixed wired infrastructure in an austere mobile environment that may lack reliable infrastructure. Approaches to leverage commercial infrastructure when it is available and to leverage commercial handheld devices and applications are of interest. These approaches will need to consider the reliability, robustness, and security of commercial infrastructure, devices, and applications in a military environment.
The Electronic Warfare (EW) area is focused on precision operations that limit collateral impact and that provide robust performance in congested and dynamic transmission environments. The integration of EW technologies, communications, and cyber capabilities into multi-functional devices will be investigated.
- Blue Laser for Submarine Laser Communications (SLC) and Non-Acoustic Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
- DARPA Interference Multiple Access (DIMA)
- Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN)
- Dynamic Multi-Terabit Core Optical Networks: Architectures, Protocols, Control and Management (CORONET)
- Mobile Ad hoc Interoperability Network GATEway (MAINGATE)
- Multiple Networked MIMO (MNM)
- Network Enabled by WDM Highly Integrated Photonics (NEW-HIP)
- Optical Rf Communications Adjunct (ORCA)
- Precision Electronic Warfare (PREW)
- Wireless Network after Next (WNaN)
