Allied/Coalition Maritime Environment (ACME)
Abstract
The ACME program advances Information Warfare (IW) to include Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR); Electronic Warfare (EW); and Cyber Warfare, interoperability with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States (AUSCANNZUKUS), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and other Allied and Coalition partners. The program determines maritime operational gaps with our allies, identifies Doctrine, Organization, Training, Material, Leadership, Personnel, and Facilities (DOTMLPF) solutions with the potential to fill those gaps, and assesses these solutions and associated concepts of operation in laboratory and at-sea environments. The ACME program includes integration and testing in support of joint and Allied war fighting capabilities, including interoperability testing of IW equipment. Allied and joint interoperability is critical for future maritime operations, especially as the United States Navy cooperatively works towards a federated environment through initiatives such as Mission Partner Environment/ NATO Federated Mission Networking (MPE/FMN), Secret and Below Releasable Environment (SABRE), and U.S. Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation System - eXtended (BICES-X). Currently, IP connectivity with AUSCANNZUKUS and other Allied/Coalition forces is focused on traditional paths, requiring extensive backhaul through ashore infrastructure. Higher bandwidth solutions suitable for use over tactical networks require development and assessment for emerging coalition and joint interoperability requirements, such as Network Operations Without Shore (NOWS), Denied, Degraded, Intermittent and Low-bandwidth (DDIL) operations, and to counter Anti-Access Area Denial (A2/AD) threats. Increases in data throughput are required for the effective exchange of rich IW data sets and services via Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) within the limitations of High Frequency (HF), Ultra-High Frequency (UHF), and other portions of the radio frequency spectrum, coupled with appropriate Information Assurance and Computer Network Defense (IA/CND) mechanisms. Development and assessment of potential solutions will integrate improved IP capabilities with the Advanced Digital Network Systems (ADNS) and existing international standards (e.g. Allied Communications Publication 200, NATO Standardization Agreements 5066 and 4691). The continued development and refinement of advanced tactical networking technologies and protocols, to include Low Probability of Intercept (LPI), Low Probability of Detection (LPD), and Anti-Jam (AJ) capabilities as well as Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) standards, will provide for a significant improvement in secure data sharing within, and between, coalition maritime elements. Coalition Warrior Interoperability eXperiment (CWIX) has been integrated with the ACME Program starting in FY24. CWIX efforts are focused on assessing federated Coalition capabilities within the NATO command construct via connected Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) capabilities resident in the Combined Federated Battle Laboratories Network (CFBLNet). CWIX also resources engineering activities in cooperation with PEO C4I to integrate USN Expeditionary Mission Partner Environment with US Air Force (USAF) Mission Partner Capabilities Office (MPCO) Enterprise Mission Partner Environment efforts. Additionally, CWIX resourcing enables assessment of NATO Federated Mission Networking Spiral Specifications as they relate to USN Programs of Record via the Coalition Interoperability Assurance and Validation (CIAV) construct in conjunction with Joint Staff J6. Australia, UK, US (AUKUS) Electronic Warfare (EW) efforts have been integrated starting in FY24. Specific efforts focus on: Threat Assessment, Blue Force Data Analysis, Tactical Data Movement, Effects optimization, and Scenario development in Synthetic Environments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Project
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2025
- Source ID
- 0798_0606355N_6_1319_PB_2025
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