The Navy’s command and control (C2) community is taking a new approach to its mission, viewing cyberspace as a battlefield equivalent to the traditional ones.
“We need to enable use of the EM [electromagnetic] spectrum as a maneuver space, a domain like sea and air,” said Matthew H. Swartz, the Navy’s director of communications and networks, during an April 7 presentation at the Navy League Sea-Air-Space Exposition at National Harbor, Md. The Navy must balance the constraints of a tight budget with the necessity to maintain continuous communication links among assets afloat, ashore and aloft, Swartz said. At the same time, adversaries are watching every move the U.S. makes in establishing and protecting its cyberspace assets, he said, and their actions require an equally formidable response. “There is no silver bullet,” Swartz said. The solution requires continuous and constant attention to interoperability, as well as training in tactics and procedures, he said.
