Navy IT experts look to shipboard software-defined networking to avoid hull-altering hardware upgrades

Oct. 19, 2020
Challenge involves devising modular shipboard networking that does not require hull cuts necessary to install cumbersome new computer hardware.

WASHINGTON – Although the U.S. Navy needs to modernize shipboard networking quickly to prepare for future fights, the need to alter ship hulls is a sizable stumbling block to making the necessary upgrades, says a top Navy information technology official. C4ISRnet reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

19 Oct. 2020 -- The key to modernization is to get around the hull cuts, says Rear Adm. Susan BryerJoyner, Navy cyber security division chief in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

To do this, the service is turning to industry for help getting around the large hardware requirements of traditional shipboard networking. The Navy’s future lies in software-defined networking, which relies on software applications for network management, BryerJoyner says.

The Navy is asking industry to help enable shipboard computers to pass data reliably in denied and degraded environments, whether that’s caused by the weather, adversaries, or a poor satellite connection.

Related: Ultra Electronics to start production on software-defined radar for navigation aboard Navy surface warships

Related: Navy looks to General Dynamics for big order in maritime radios for shipboard communications

Related: Navy chooses tactical radio system from Ultra Electronics for ship-to-shore communications with U.S. Marines

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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