The Army needs to continually work on securing its Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 network modernization program to secure it from both electronic and cyber attacks, according to an Army military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) official.
Edward Aymar, a senior MILSATCOM systems analyst for the Army chief information officer’s (CIO) space and airborne division, said last week while WIN-T Increment 2 is a step forward, the Army still needs to ensure security and ease of use.
“We still have to make sure it’s secure. We have to move it with the force and we have to continue to make it easy to operate for the guys on the ground,” Aymar told Defense Daily at the Satellite 2014 conference in Washington. Satellite 2014 is produced by Defense Daily parent company Access Intelligence LLC.
WIN-T is the Army’s mobile battlefield network at the company level and above. It provides mission-critical voice, video and data to soldiers on-the-move in their vehicles. It is a central component of current and future capability sets that the Army deems a top priority.
Aymar called WIN-T’s network integration with the Air Force’s Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite constellation a “tremendous step forward” by giving the Army mobility in satellites systems. WGS, developed by Boeing [BA], is the Defense Department’s highest capacity communications satellite, providing service in both X and Ka frequency bands.
Aymar said one challenge with WIN-T is although it provides mobility at the operational level–it has to be mounted in trucks and systems–it is not a handheld system. Aymar told Defense Daily the Army’s future mobility solutions over the next five-to-10 years would include something that integrates into the network and doesn’t involve another piece of equipment to carry.
The Army in October awarded General Dynamics C4 Systems, a division of General Dynamics [GD], a nearly $111 million delivery order to procure the next lot of WIN-T Increment 2 network nodes for additional brigade combat teams and division headquarters units.
The Army designed WIN-T as a three-tiered communications architecture (space, terrestrial and airborne) to serve as the Army’s high-speed and high-capacity tactical communications network, according to DoD’s director, operational test and evaluation (DOT&E) office. WIN-T is composed of four increments. Increment 1 enables the exchange of voice, video, data and imagery throughout the tactical battlefield. Increment 2 provides command and control (C2) on-the-move down to the company level for maneuver brigades and implements and improved network security architecture. Increment 3 provides full mobility C2 for all Army field commanders, from theater to company level. Increment 4 includes access to the next generation of protected communications satellites while retaining all previous on-the-move capabilities.