Army releases Unified Network Plan 2.0, honing in on multi-domain fighting, zero trust

The ultimate goal of the Army’s Unified Network is to give soldiers the same network capabilities while deployed as they have at posts, camps, and stations. (Photo courtesy of the US Army.)

WASHINGTON — After months of anticipation, the Army has released the second version of its Unified Network Plan, building off of the 2021 iteration that aimed to collapse its 69 enterprise and tactical networks into a single, shared one by 2027.

The service’s updated plan, also known as AUN 2.0 and released late last week, reiterates the 1.0 version of paving the way for a unified network but creates a clearer focus on preparing the Army for multi-domain operations.

Since the first plan, AUN 2.0 says, “a confluence of emerging technologies and events has transformed the world into a multidomain, persistently contested information environment that demands a far more data-centric approach to harness the power of the Army Network to fight and win.”

It’s an approach previewed by Gen. Jeth Ray, of the Army’s G6 office, in December.

“It’s gonna enable multi-domain operations. That’s gonna be the key basis of what it’s all about. [It will also] chart this road map of where we’re going for the unified networking by 2027, but then it’s also gonna talk about the critical enablers that’s required for that multi-domain operation by Army 2030,” Rey said then at the Army’s technical exchange meeting in Savannah, Ga. (The 1.0 version had aimed for a multi-domain ready force by 2028, a timeline that has since been pushed back.)

“AUN 2.0 is going to be new guidance on how the warfighter actually approaches and accelerates and operationalizes the unified network across the board and the Army campaign plan,” he said.

According to the new published plan, there will also be a sharper focus on creating data centricity through zero trust principles — the principle of “never trust, always verify” philosophy that operates under the assumption that the network is always compromised. 

“We look at it as where we’re converging all of our networks from disparate networks into this condition of what we call underpinned by zero trust. We’re bringing all those networks together so that when you leave from one installation to another installation, we don’t have to do massive amounts of paperwork just to get you onto that network,” Rey explained in December. 

Within the AUN 2.0 plan there are five lines of effort: 

• Establish the unified network 
• Poster the force to enable multi-domain operations
• Create security and survivability with on zero trust Principles
• Transform the Army’s Unified Network investments, policy, and governance
• Continuously improve the Unified Network

These are designed to be carried out within three phases, the plan explains, with all phases being completed by 2030. 

“As with command posts, the network and data must be agile, adaptable, and able to rapidly move to the point of need even in a denied, disrupted, intermittent, and limited bandwidth (DDIL) environment. Whereas past network strategies homed in on perimeter defense and hardware, the AUNP 2.0 is focused on common principles and standards to centrally deliver and manage the network and data,” the new plan reads.