DATE REVISED: 22 AUGUST 1996
SECTION 1 OVERVIEW
The Warfighter battlespace is complex and dynamic, requiring timely and clear decisions by all levels of military command. There is an unprecedented increase in the amount of data and information necessary to conduct operational planning and combat decision making. Information concerning targets, movement of forces, condition of equipment, levels of supplies, and disposition of assets, both friendly and unfriendly, must be provided to joint commanders and their forces. Therefore, information must flow efficiently between all tactical, strategic, and supporting establishment elements.
As shown in Figure 1-1, Warfighters must be able to work together within and across Services in ways not totally defined in today's operational concepts and/or architectures. They must be able to obtain and use intelligence from theater and National assets which may be processed in forward areas or Continental United States (CONUS). Today's split base/reach back concept requires them to obtain their logistics and administrative support from both home bases and deployed locations. All of this requires that information quickly and seamlessly flow among DoD's sensors, processing and command centers and shooters to achieve dominant battlefield awareness and move inside the enemy's decision loop.
Figure 1-1. Joint Technical Architecture Concept
The Joint Technical Architecture (JTA) provides the "building codes" which, when implemented, permit this flow of information in support of the Warfighter. As shown in Figure 1-1, there must be a distributed information processing environment in which applications are integrated. The applications and data must be independent of hardware to achieve true "plug and play". Information transfer assets must ensure seamless communications within and across diverse media. The information must be in a common format and have a common meaning. There must also be common human-computer interfaces for users and effective means to protect the information.
This document, the DoD JTA, mandates the minimum set of standards and guidelines for all DoD Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) systems acquisition. A foremost objective of the JTA is to improve and facilitate the ability of our systems to support joint and combined operations in an overall investment strategy.
The purpose of this section is to provide an overview of the JTA. It describes the purpose, scope, and background of the JTA in addition to the contents of each section.
The purpose of the DoD JTA is:
The evolution of national military strategy in the post cold war era and the lessons learned from the recent conflicts of Desert Shield/ Desert Storm have resulted in a new vision for the DoD. This new vision is commonly known as C4I For The Warrior. Its principle objective is to make information available to the warrior at any time and from any place in order to maximize the effectiveness of the forces and provide a decisive edge in combat. Each of the Services articulated their view of the new doctrine in separate strategy documents: The Enterprise Vision, Army; Horizon, Air Force; Copernicus, Navy; Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF)/C4I, Marine Corps.
Recognizing the need for jointness in combat and the reality of a shrinking budget, the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ASD) Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I) issued a memorandum on 14 November 1995 to Service and Agency principals involved in the development of C4I systems. This directive tasked them to "reach a consensus of a working set of standards" and "establish a single, unifying DoD technical architecture that will become binding on all future DoD C4I acquisitions" so that "new systems can be born joint and interoperable, and existing systems will have a baseline to move towards to ensure interoperability."
A Joint Technical Architecture Working Group (JTAWG), chaired by ASD (C3I), C4I Integration Support Activity, was formed and its members agreed to use the Army's Technical Architecture (ATA) as the starting point for the JTA.
An architecture is defined in IEEE 610.12 as the structure of components,
their relationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design
and evolution over time. DoD has implemented this by defining an interrelated
set of architectures: Operational, Systems, and Technical. The diagram below
shows the relationship among the three architectures. The definitions are
provided here to ensure a common understanding of the different types of
architectures.
Figure 1-2. Architecture Relationships
A description (often graphical) of the operational elements, assigned tasks, and information flows required to accomplish or support the warfighting function. It defines the type of information, the frequency of exchange, and what tasks are supported by these information exchanges.
A description, including graphics, of the systems* and interconnections** providing for or supporting warfighting functions (C4SR ITF Integrated Architecture Panel, 18 December 1995). The SA defines the physical connection, location, and identification of the key nodes, circuits, networks, warfighting platforms, etc., and specifies system and component performance parameters. It is constructed to satisfy Operational Architecture requirements per standards defined in the Technical Architecture. The SA shows how multiple systems within a subject area link and interoperate, and may describe the internal construction or operations of particular systems within the architecture. (C4 Chiefs Consensus SA Definition, 12 January 1996, as modified at the suggestion of the USD(A&T) community).
A minimal set of rules governing the arrangement, interaction, and interdependence of the parts or elements whose purpose is to ensure that a conformant system satisfies a specified set of requirements. The technical architecture identifies the services, interfaces, standards, and their relationships. It provides the technical guidelines for implementation of systems upon which engineering specifications are based, common building blocks are built, and product lines are developed.
The scope of JTA Version 1.0 is focused on C4I systems defined for this document as command, control and intelligence systems (to include sustaining base, combat support information systems, and office automation systems) and the communications and computers that directly support them. The JTA also includes the interfaces of those systems with other key assets (e.g., weapon systems, sensors, and models and simulations) to support critical joint Warfighter interoperability.
The JTA is considered a living document and will be updated periodically with continued Service/Agency participation. The JTA's ultimate scope applies to all systems that produce, use, or exchange information electronically. Future versions of the JTA will extend the Version 1.0 scope into other domains and/or focus areas (e.g., weapon systems, sensors, and models and simulations). This extension is critical to truly achieving the objective seamless integration environment envisioned in the C4I For the Warrior concept as documented in Joint Pub 6-0. Achieving and maintaining this vision requires interoperability:
The JTA implements DoD Directive (DoDD) 4630.5, which directs that all C4I systems shall be considered for joint use. The JTA shall be used by anyone involved in the management, development, or acquisition of new or improved C4I systems within DoD. Specific guidance for implementing this JTA is provided separately. System developers shall use the JTA to ensure that new and upgraded C4I systems (and the interfaces to such systems) meet interoperability requirements. System integrators shall use it to facilitate the integration of existing and new systems. Operational requirements developers shall be cognizant of the JTA in developing requirements and functional descriptions. When developing C4I applications for Advanced Technology Demonstrations (ATDs), the science and technology community should use the JTA whenever possible to provide the logical interfaces to existing C4I, so that their good ideas will readily integrate into existing systems rather than require a massive redesign to meet DoD's interoperability objectives. The JTA is applicable to Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations (ACTDs).
In general, the JTA shall be used to determine the specific standards to be implemented within new or upgraded C4I systems. However, there are several key considerations in using the JTA.
First, the mandatory standards in the JTA must be implemented by systems that have a NEED for the corresponding services. That is, a standard is mandatory in the sense that IF a service/interface is going to be implemented, it shall be implemented in accordance with the associated standard. If a required service can be obtained by implementing more than one standard (e.g., satellite standards), the appropriate standard should be selected based on system requirements.
Second, the JTA is a "forward-looking" document. It guides the acquisition and development of new and emerging C4I functionality and provides a baseline towards which existing systems will move. It is NOT a catalog of all information technology standards used within today's DoD systems. It represents those standards (for interfaces/services) that should be used now and in the future. If legacy standards are needed to interface with existing systems, they can be implemented on a case-by-case basis in addition to the mandated standard.
Third, specification of any other standards (outside of those identified in the JTA) must be additive, complementary, and non-conflictive with JTA mandated standards. Refer to the TAFIM Volume 7 for adopted standards in areas not addressed by the JTA.
The DoD Standards Reform was begun in June 1994 when the Secretary of Defense issued his memorandum entitled "Specifications and Standards - A New Way of Doing Business." This memorandum directs that performance-based specifications and standards or nationally-recognized private sector standards be used in future acquisitions. The intent of this initiative is to eliminate non-value added requirements, and thus to reduce the cost of weapon systems and materiel, remove impediments to getting commercial state-of-the-art technology into our weapon systems, and integrate the commercial and military industrial bases to the greatest extent possible.
The JTA implements standards reform by selecting the minimum standards necessary to achieve joint interoperability. The JTA mandates commercial standards and practices to the maximum extent possible. Use of JTA mandated standards or specifications in acquisition solicitations will not require a waiver from standards reform policies. All mandatory documents in the JTA are of the types that have been identified by the Reform as waiver-free or an exemption has already been obtained. Additional information on this topic can be found in Appendix C.
While the ATA was the starting point for the JTA, many additions/deletions, reformatting, and other changes led to the current version of the JTA. These changes were the result of strong Service/Agency participation in producing the JTA. In developing the JTA, these participants were able to exploit the work and results of the many other ongoing related technical efforts within the DoD. Among these other efforts are: the Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM), the Defense Information Infrastructure (DII) Common Operating Environment (COE) as documented in the Integration and Runtime Specification (I&RTS), the Air Force Technical Reference Codes (TRCs) , the Navy Computer Resources Management (CRM) , the Marine Corps MAGTF/C4I Technical Architecture, the DoD Index of Specifications and Standards (DoDISS) Profile of the DoD TAFIM, the emerging Intelligence Community Standards, Conventions and Guidelines, and functional profiles such as those developed for the United States Imagery System.
The standards selection criteria used in developing the JTA generally focused on mandating only those items critical to interoperability that were based primarily on commercial open system technology, were implementable, and had strong support in the commercial marketplace. The specific guidance given in selecting standards was that standards would only be mandated if they meet all of the following criteria:
The order of preference used to select the standards follows. Standards that are commercially supported in the marketplace with validated implementations available in multiple vendors' mainstream commercial products took precedence. Publicly held standards were generally preferred. International or national industry standards were preferred over military or other government standards.
Many standards have optional parts or parameters that can affect interoperability. In some cases, a standard may be further defined by a standards profile which requires certain options to be present to ensure proper operation and interoperability.
The word "Standards" as referred to in the JTA is a generic term for the collection of documents cited herein. "Standards" as cited in the JTA may include commercial, federal and military standards and specifications, and various other kinds of documents and publications.
As discussed, there are several key efforts (i.e., TAFIM, Service/Agency technical architectures and the COE) related to the JTA. The TAFIM provides the processes and framework for defining Version 1.0 of the JTA. For the C4I domain, the JTA set of standards supersedes those listed in the TAFIM. As the JTA evolves, its relationship to these key efforts is likely to change.
Previously, each of the Services, Agencies and the Intelligence Community, has established their own sets of standards (e.g., technical architectures). The JTA is envisioned as "...a single, unifying DoD technical architecture..." in the ASD(C3I) 1995 memo, which Services and Agencies will supplement as necessary.
Finally, the DII COE is the specific COE implementation that will continue to evolve in compliance with all applicable JTA specifications, standards, and source references.
The JTA's body consists of six main sections. The first section is the overview. The next five are: (2) Information Processing Standards; (3) Information Transfer Standards; (4) Information Modeling and Information Standards; (5) Human-Computer Interfaces; and (6) Information Systems Security Standards.
The JTA identified in the main body of this document is mandated for all DoD Services and Agencies, but supplements apply only to the specific Service/Agency identified. The supplement(s) address Technical Architecture additions for specific organizational entities within DoD. The JTA always takes precedence over supplements.
Each section, except for the overview, is divided into three subsections as follows:
Section 2 mandates government and commercial information processing standards the DoD shall use to develop integrated, interoperable systems that meet the Warfighter's information processing requirements. This section also describes the DII COE concept and individual processing standards.
Section 3 describes the information transfer standards and profiles that are essential for information transfer interoperability and seamless communications. This section mandates the use of the open-systems standards used for the Internet and the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN). These networks use the Internet Protocol (IP) suite, which provides communications interoperability between information systems that are on different platforms or communications networks.
Section 4 describes the use of integrated information modeling and mandates applicable standards. Information modeling consists of Activity and Data Modeling. This section explains the use of the DoD Command and Control (C2) Core Data Model (C2CDM) and the Defense Data Dictionary System (DDDS), formerly the Defense Data Repository System (DDRS). This section also mandates information standards including message formats.
Section 5 provides a common framework for Human-Computer Interface (HCI) design and implementation in DoD automated systems. The objective is the standardization of user interface implementation options, enabling DoD applications to appear and behave in a reasonably consistent manner. The section specifies HCI design guidance, mandates, and standards.
Section 6 prescribes the standards and protocols to be used to satisfy security requirements. This section provides the mandated and emerging security standards that apply to JTA Sections 2 through 5. Section 6 is structured to mirror the overall organization of the JTA so that readers can easily link security topics with the related JTA subject areas.
The appendices provide supporting information (e.g., how to get a copy of mandated standards) and available links to standards organization's home pages, which facilitate the use of the document, but are not mainline to the purpose of the document.
Annexes provide extensions to the Technical Architecture necessary for a specific domain. Additional annexes will be added as other non-C4I domain Technical Architectures are addressed. Annexes are organized in the same way as the subsections of the JTA. Each includes an introduction clearly specifying the purpose, scope, and background of the annex. Annexes identify mandated standards within a framework that follows the JTA structure. They may also address emerging standards that are of interest to the domain or organization. There are currently no annexes to the JTA.
Supplements address Technical Architecture additions for specific organizational entities within DoD. Each supplement includes an introduction clearly specifying the purpose, scope, and background of the supplement. Supplements identify mandated standards within a framework that follows the JTA structure. They may also address emerging standards that are of interest to the organization.
The JTA is mandated for all DoD Services and Agencies while supplements are mandated only for the specific Service/Agency that prepares the supplement. The JTA always takes precedence over supplements. Supplements are submitted by a Service or Agency, but are subject to joint review to ensure the supplements are within the scope of the JTA and are consistent with the approved mandates.
The JTA will be jointly configuration managed by the CINCs, Services and Agencies.
Proposed changes should be provided to the JTA point of contact identified by your CINC/Service/Agency. Changes may also be submitted via jta-comment@itsi.disa.mil. Changes received via jta-comment@itsi.disa.mil will be referred to your CINC/Service/Agency JTA point of contact. Industry and non-DoD comments should be submitted through the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Center for Standards (CFS) via jta-comment@itsi.disa.mil.