GFCON - The Ground Forces Communications and Operations Network
The
Ground Forces Communications and Operations Network (
GFCON) is the Imperial Fusanese Army's contribution to the Ministry of War's
Sentinel information transmission and processing network. It consists of all globally interconnected, end-to-end set of Army information capabilities, associated processes, and personnel for collecting, processing, storing, disseminating, and managing information on demand supporting warfighters, policy makers, and support personnel. It includes all Army and Ministry of War (MoW)/Joint communications and computing systems and services, software (including applications), data security services, and other associated services. GFCON exists to enable the warfighter through Mission Command. Other Fusanese service equivalent efforts to GFCON include the Imperial Navy's "NAVCON" (Navy Communications and Operations Network) and the Air Force's "AFCON" (Air Force Communications and Operations Network).
GFCON is essentially the combination of the set of functional applications (for mission command, Intelligence, Logistics, etc.), transmitted over integrated network transport (space, airborne, terrestrial, infrastructure, network terminal), utilizing a common set of network services (voice, data, collaboration, mediation, storage, discovery, messaging, speed of service, quality of service, hosting, IA/Security, NetOps - information assurance, information dissemination management, and network management). GFCON also represents the Army’s unified, coherent network capabilities development effort to bring the pieces together. GFCON, in its current form, came into existence around 2018, however it was officially established in the early 2000s.
BCTNet - The Brigade Combat Team Network
An important part of GFCON is the Brigade Combat Team Network, commonly abbreviated to BCTNet, which consists of five layers that deliver data to forward-deployed Army units. BCTNet possesses the adaptability and management functionality required to maintain pertinent services. The BCTNet is capable of dispatching targeting and other coordinating data to Navy and Air Force components for total force integration in the battlespace. Provided below is an overview of BCTNet's five layers, organized from the "top" down:
Sensors and platforms layer
Sensors are the hardware and software that provide the Army with the ability to "see first" and achieve situational awareness and understanding of the battlefield. The sensor layer soldiers to detect, identify, and track both enemy and friendly systems and to survey the terrain around them. The intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors are integrated on most manned and all unmanned ground vehicles and are capable of accomplishing a variety of missions. Unmanned Aerial Systems such as the RI-11 are able to maneuver to an area of attack, with the onboard sensors providing surveillance of targets and terrain, among other functions. In addition, two types of unattended ground sensor systems, the Tactical Ground Sensor (TGS) and the Urban Ground Sensor (UGS), can be linked to BCTNet. TGS provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance awareness to Brigade Combat Teams and other units, while UGS supports clearing operations in confined spaces and urban chokepoints. All sensors on the BCTNet are connected to a Common Operational Picture. This "COP" provides a soldier with a good overview and understanding of their battlespace.
Applications layer
The applications layer is responsible for providing the integrated ability to assess, plan, and execute network-centric mission operations using a common interface. It consists of ten software packages known as Battle Command applications. The combined capabilities of the Battle Command software packages enable full interaction among BCTs and provide the ability to understand the battle situation first. Understanding first is the ability to see patterns, understand the enemy's concept of operations, his scheme of maneuver, and then exploit his decisive points and vulnerabilities. The applications layer provides the ability for cross Battlefield Functional Area (BFA) problem solving and decision aiding capability for all brigades and below echelons.
Services layer
Infamously referred to as the "System of Systems" in the mid-2000s, the Services Layer, officially termed the System-of-Systems Common Operating Environment (SoSCOE) provides interoperability with existing systems, intra and inter platform networking (including e-mail and web services), data services and information assurance, and search capabilities. The Services Layer also contains administrative applications which provide capabilities including login service, startup, logoff, erase, alert/emergency restart and monitoring control. It enables straightforward integration of separate software packages, independent of their location, connectivity mechanism and the technology used to develop them. SoSCOE has three different variants: Micro Edition, Realtime Edition, Standard Edition. Multiple editions allow SoSCOE to meet performance, scalability, portability, and interoperability requirements of future platforms.
Transport layer
The transport layer is the telecommunications layer. It provides the radios and computers to process information. It improves force communication limitations because it is primarily embedded in the mobile platforms and moves with the combat formations. The transport layer provides ground, aerial, and space communications across the battlefield. It allows information to move seamlessly between BCTNet-enabled equipment and soldiers. The BCTNet communications network consists of a three tiered transport layer: terrestrial, airborne, and space. Inter-Service Tactical Radio System (ISTRS) Ground Mobile Radio (GMR) and Handheld, Manpackable, Small Form Factor (HMS) radios running two transformational waveforms, the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW), and the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW). Both radios are also capable of select legacy waveforms to provide current force and Joint interoperability.
Standards Layer
The standards layer is the foundation of BCTNet and provides governance for the network's implementation. It also describes how sensor data from other sources can be used by BCTNet. This ensures that BCTNet-enabled components will work together properly. Conformance to these standards permits seamless interoperability with combined and coalition forces for all National Security Systems (NSS) and Information Technology (IT) systems.