Optimizing secure multi-transport networks for the military and the DoD

Optimizing secure multi-transport networks for the military and the DoD

We are at a point with satellite technology and 5G, that is both exhilarating and hugely challenging especially as applied to military users. Security, resiliency, redundancy, and diversity are all critical to the success of communications networks that support defense operations. Rajeev Gopal, Vice President of advanced defense systems for Hughes Network Systems explains how both technological expertise and the ability to partner are key.

Crispin Littlehales, Executive Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

Question: What are the main advantages that LEO and 5G can deliver to the US military?

Dr. Rajeev Gopal: Historically, the government has used wide-beam and high throughput GEO satellites from commercial satellite operators. Although these have provided powerful, capacity density — which works very well — we now need global low latency capabilities. This is because threats are coming at a much faster rate and we need to observe, to detect, to decide, and to act within a much shorter timescale.

Rajeev Gopal, Vice President of advanced defense systems for Hughes Network Systems

LEO satellites provide communications with low propagation delay which means that users can quickly see, and act based on near real-time information access. 5G has similar advantages. It is a lot faster than 4G both in terms of data rates and latency. The combination of these two advanced communications technologies is just the right solution so we can take care of all sorts of threats. Adding a strong security posture to the LEO and 5G capabilities makes for very resilient communications solutions.

SATCOM and 5G are being tightly integrated so that you have added resiliency across networks using multiple LEO constellations and GEO satellite systems. This way 5G takes care of local networking with high data rates and low latency. When you have to reach a different continent, or if you are on a ship, or a forward base and you have to reach headquarters, you can do that over resilient SATCOM.

Whidbey Island Air Station.

Photo courtesy of US Navy

The automated orchestration of these transports makes the big difference. If there is too much traffic, you can distribute it across transports, and if you have priority traffic, you can send it over the best transport for the fastest routing.

All these things used to take weeks to accomplish. Now, with software using AI, machine learning, and rules learning, you can do these things in a fast, automated fashion. The software stores policies from the network’s enterprise management and control (EM&C) capability and is able to decide what to do with the traffic, based on quality, cost and available transports. Monitoring the network traffic and transport paths and making decisions about threats can be done at lightning speed.

Question: Has it been challenging to get the DoD to embrace LEO and 5G as part of multi-transport networks?

Dr. Rajeev Gopal: The Department of Defense (DoD) has done well with respect to assessing what is needed. They have known for several years that LEO constellations could be much more resilient and they also provide redundancy and diversity which greatly benefits the DoD’s applications. For example, if you have different service providers and one company cannot be used, you can turn to another company. This orchestration of multitransport hybrid networks is key. It enables the right transport at the right time and at the right place.

For the last several years we have been working on an enterprise management and control (EM&C) prototype for SATCOM. The prototype includes the Hughes Flexible Modem Interface (FMI), which enhances interoperability across military and commercial SATCOM networks to form this unified hybrid network architecture. This interoperability is very important because the government will benefit from multiple providers that have demonstrated that you can use multiple satellites and modems together, working cohesively as one hybrid network.

In addition to embracing multi-transport capabilities the DoD is investing US$600 million to demonstrate 5G wireless networks at military bases nationwide. By doing so, the government is reaching out to many non-traditional players. The commercial side of the industry is already investing heavily in the development of 5G, so the government can leverage those efforts and accelerate the secure version of those technologies while promoting the advantages of this 5G ecosystem which has additional security, accommodates satellites, and has the edge cloud.

Question: Obviously, security and resiliency are key to any military operation, particularly in warzones; what makes space-based communications superior to what the military already has in place?

Dr. Rajeev Gopal: Space-based communications are essential to delivering communications anytime, anywhere and under any threats. For the DoD, we have to be prepared for all sorts of threats and that’s why we must have space-based redundancy, diversity, and resiliency.

There is also the need for information security and 5G technology provides more security from the start since it has better authentication and encryption. We can take a commercial solution, which is secure to begin with, then we add governmentspecific security layers. There are two kinds of descriptors: zero trust architecture (ZTA) and Commercial Solutions for Classified (CSfC) which is the National Security Agency’s (NSA) commercial cybersecurity strategy.

ZTA means don’t trust it, even if something is inside the perimeter; authenticate it and encrypt all channels. That security posture exists everywhere in our system. CSfC means that you can use the general-purpose internet or any wireless network where you don’t trust who is running it and encrypt it twice. One encryption is end-to-end, and another is on top of it over the untrusted network, so that you can protect against that uncertainty. This is a very nimble way to secure a public network and so we have that as part of our architecture.

Question: Do you think the DoD will want its own proprietary systems and networks or do you envision them purchasing LEO 5G solutions and support from commercial operators?

Dr. Rajeev Gopal: Over the last five or six years, the government has made it very clear that in order to leverage the best solutions, they have to interoperate with commercial solutions. To address this requirement and support the country’s economic strength and national security, the DoD needs to pursue a variety of methods to access 5G – including both proprietary and commercial systems.

Question: How do you see a changeover to this kind of approach unfolding?

Dr. Rajeev Gopal: I think it is definitely a lot faster compared to where things were 10 years ago. There is a big push on the part of the government to inject funds into research and development.

Fortunately, there is a vehicle, the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) which enables the government and industry to develop a pilot system that the government can try out. Instead of taking years and years to come up with requirements and a program, you produce a short list of needs so that industry can be guided quickly. These timeframes are six months to two years. This means that the government can actually test an application as opposed to just looking at a Power Point presentation. All the branches of the US military are injecting more funds and more projects along OTA lines.

These efforts are programs of record and facilitate solutions that can be deployed, maintained, documented, and operated. You can come up with an approach quickly, find the right partners, and get started.

Question: What role does Hughes intend to play in all of this?

Dr. Rajeev Gopal: Hughes is positioned as a value-addedintegrator. We have our own organic capability in that we design, develop, deploy, and run innovative satellite and 5G systems. But we are not just pitching solutions from Hughes, we also provide honest feedback and value-added recommendations to our customers.

Hughes has already developed prototypes and we have done multiple demonstrations for the US Navy, the US Air Force, US Army, and the US Space Force. We are also working with the DoD on automated resilient networks across multiple LEO constellations to deliver mission-critical connectivity with reliability and flexibility.

Hughes was awarded a contract through an OTA issued through the Information Warfare Research Project (IWRP) to deploy a standalone 5G network at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington State. The project is part of the ongoing DoD 5G experimentation. The infrastructure provided by Hughes includes a packet processing core, radio access, edge cloud, security, and network management. It will demonstrate how the 5G infrastructure can power the resilient networking necessary to transform base operations.

In addition, Hughes deployed a LEO network at Thule Air Base, Greenland which is situated less than 1,000 miles from the North Pole. We are currently in the process of enhancing our offering because now we have multiple new satellites from OneWeb for which we provide the ground segment. Using LEO connectivity, the 600 men and women in residence can use high-speed low latency broadband for Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) and to conduct experiments, connect securely through private networks, and handle emerging high velocity threats. GMC

Whidbey Island Air Station where Hughes 5G network is being implemented.

Photo courtesy of US Navy