The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is actively looking into means to seamlessly and securely transmit data across land, sea, and space.

"Networking the Fight" is a five-year, $70 million Air Force Research Laboratory project targeted at employing heterogeneous networks at the tactical edge.

Military agencies typically employ red/black network architectures, with sensitive or classified data (or red signals) separated from standard encrypted information (or black signals). The Air Force is looking for proposals that would allow its warfighters to securely manage information flows across deployments regardless of their classification.

“By integrating these technologies, the goal is to strengthen information sharing and collaboration in tactical environments, ultimately enhancing mission success,” the broad agency announcement reads.

Successful proposals would be in line to receive between $1 million and $24 million for contracts expected to last up to 36 months.

The Air Force has a myriad of projects on the go with a view to boosting connectivity, chief among them is a network upgrade at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. Detailed in mid-April, the USAF is in the midst of procuring 400 Gb/s (400G) optical networking equipment for the 633rd Communications Squadron, which implements networks across the U.S. military’s war-fighting missions.

This latest effort sees the defense agency demand “practical solutions” with a view to “rapidly integrating a mission-focused modeling and simulation frameworks” for “rapid prototyping.”