Leveraging Cloud and Edge-Based Video Distribution Systems (VDS) to Realize the JADC2 Vision for Command and Control

Lt. Gen. Dennis Crall, USMC, the Director for Command, Control, Communications, and Computers/Cyber and Chief Information Office Joint Staff J6, has said the JADC2 vision for a connected force across all domains—land, sea, air, space and cyber—is not possible without enterprise cloud computing. The Defense Department’s future battlefield network needs the cloud to increase command and control capabilities, to provide global accessibility and to directly support the warfighters at the tactical edge. Lessons learned in Ukraine highlight the importance of unified command and control between the U.S. military and its allies, the ability to rapidly and securely share massive amounts of data from a growing number of sensors and satellites, and the need to link sensors and warfighters to achieve their missions.

The Video Distribution System (VDS) provides the mission-critical “eyes” (video) and “ears” (audio) for all C2 centers. For JADC2, the VDS must support the cloud and the cloud-edge to meet the mission. The strategy needs a VDS that is certified-secure, cloud-architected and highly scalable AV/IP VDS, with multiple independent levels of security (MILS) and end-to-end AES 256 encryption, architected for zero-trust environments. This type of VDS is also needed for field commands, intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR), combatant commands, multi-domain, multiple geographical locations, ABMS, Project Overmatch, Project Convergence and future JADC2 centers. It should leverage the infrastructure of any of the leading cloud vendors and must operate on premise, in the cloud and at the cloud-edge to support current and future missions.