The U.S. Army is pushing forward its Network Transport Convergence program to integrate intelligence, medical, logistics, and command and control network traffic with the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical architecture in a bid to optimize resources and bandwidth.Edric Thompson reports Tuesday that the service will implement the program in three phases as an upgrade from the TROJAN Special Purpose Integrated Remote Intelligence Terminal – Lightweight Intelligence Telecommunications Equipment currently used by tactical units.
“[We] need to examine the risks associated with convergence, how they will impact performance during mission operations and what can be done to reduce these risks,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Addyman, chief of the Army Cyber Center of Excellence’s live experimentation branch.
Under phase 1, the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center conducted initial field-based risk reduction assessments to determine the planned convergence’s operational readiness and technical performance.
Thompson writes that the initial round also involved tests by CERDEC’s C4ISR Ground Activity and various stakeholders across the Army on the transition of intelligence traffic and C2 workflows onto WIN-T increments 1B and 2, as well as quality of service tests.
“I think this was a good event; it was an experiment complimentary to [Network Integration Evaluation]Â that didn’t have the rigors of a test, so we got the opportunity to take a knee, do some analysis and make adjustments,” Addyman added.
CERDEC submitted a report on the findings from the phase 1Â risk reduction assessments in December ahead of the medical and logistics convergence for phases 2 and 3 this summer, the report said.
