Survivable Networks for the 21st Century TACs

Communication networks to support the 21st Century Tactical C³I centers for the Air Force Tactical Air Control System will be required to be survivable against the expected physical, electronic, and environmental threats on the future battlefield. New distributed architectures, technologies, mixed media transmission solutions, and local area networks are expected to play a dominant role to achieving the survivability needed. This paper discusses concepts, approaches, and possible solutions to realizing this survivability needed in future tactical C³I networking centers. It is based upon an eighteen month study being conducted for the Air Force (RADC) to define a highly survivable Multi-Media Local Area Network (MMLAN).