S&T Implications for Net Centric Operations

Abstract : The evolving environment for Net Centric Operations (NCO) is changing the requirements and capabilities that are needed for successful military and civil operations. This in turn is demanding science and technology developments of new enabling technologies with associated NCO capabilities. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has studied these needs and has developed a Technical Taxonomy and associated shortfalls for Naval Net Centric Operations. This paper discusses that taxonomy and provides an examination of eight technology areas that are required to support five enabling functions necessary for Net Centric Operations. These enabling technology areas are: 1. Reliable communications and infrastructure management, 2. Information distribution management, 3. Geographically distributed, computing infrastructure, 4. Situation understanding, 5. Automated adaptive dynamic planning, 6. Human machine interface, 7. Information assurance and information operations and 8. Modeling and simulation.