Defense Department building its own secure 4G network
The U.S. Department of Defense is building its own secure 4G network to improve collaboration among separate branches of the military, according to the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The network is part of an effort dubbed "Joint Information Environment," which will consolidate 15,000 Defense Department networks in the cloud, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey said in a speech (PDF) delivered Thursday at the Brookings Institute, an influential think tank based in Washington, D.C. In addition to greater collaboration, the new network will be "significantly more secure, helping ensure the integrity of our battle systems in the face of disruption," Dempsey said.
The network, which will allow access to a variety of mobile devices, is expected to be operational by the middle of next year, Dempsey said, as he gave a preview of the type of security to which service people will be privy. "This phone would make both Batman and James Bond jealous," he said, holding up what he said was a secure mobile phone. "With tools like this, the smartphone generation joining our military will help us pioneer a new era of mobile command and control."
