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DoD IPv6 Technology Insertion Program
Dr. Charles Lynch, Chief DoD IPv6 Transition Office
and
Dr. Osama Mowafi, VP and CTO Networks, SI International Inc.
The Department of Defense (DoD) IPv6 Transition Office (TO) was established
by direction of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) in March
2004 to provide overall coordination, common engineering solutions, and
technical guidance for the adoption of IPv6 across the DoD. The DoD communications
infrastructure is a complex system of systems that will require reengineering
from the network layer up to the application layer to support IPv6. Engineering
guidance and coordination is needed to ensure that each component system
follows a set of standards and common procedures to achieve overall system
integration and interoperability. The DoD IPv6 TO is leading the engineering
initiative to examine common technical solutions for IPv6 technology insertion
to support an integrated and coherent transition.
Members of the DoD IPv6 TO and support staff will present the status of
current efforts on December 9th at the 2004 IPv6 Summit in Reston, VA.
Topics to be presented include:
1. The DoD definition of IPv6 capable
“As of October 1, 2003, all Global Information Grid (GIG) assets
being developed, procured, or acquired shall be IPv6 capable” as
stated in the June 2003 DoD Memorandum from the Assistant Secretary of
Defense/CIO Mr. John Stenbit. The DoD IPv6 TO is developing the process
to establish and define IPv6 Capable. This definition is intended to assist
with network engineering and implementation efforts by specifying the
common foundational IPv6 requirements needed for technical interoperability;
the DoD acquisition community by establishing the baseline qualifying
criteria; and the vendor community by announcing the critical IPv6 technologies
needed by the DoD. The IPv6 Capable definition under development will
be a multi-dimensional matrix of requirements linking approved standards
as captured in the Joint Technical Architecture (JTA); program phase such
as Authority to Operate (AO) and Operational Capability (OC); functional
class such as router, host, security device, software; and level of IPv6
functionality indicating complexity and completeness of implementation.
2. DoD IPv6 standards analysis
A significant component of the IPv6 Capable effort will be continuous
analysis of and participation in the activities of IPv6 standards organizations.
The DoD IPv6 TO will coordinate between the DoD and industry IPv6 stake
holders to champion the development and use of international standards
for IPv6. Further, the standardization process influenced by DoD operational
requirements is viewed by the DoD IPv6 TO as a method of facilitating
the development and growth of IPv6 technology. Categories of critical
need to the DoD during the IPv6 transition have been identified by the
DoD IPv6 TO and both existing and maturing standards have been mapped
to and prioritized within each topic area. The TO will continue to evaluate
standards development and monitor the evolution of the Joint Technical
Architecture.
3. DoD IPv6 Information Assurance (IA) risk management
Information Assurance (IA) for IPv6 deployments requires that all the
applicable network security threats and vulnerabilities associated with
IPv6 are enumerated and understood, and that risk be sufficiently mitigated
in order to meet DoD certification and accreditation criteria before achieving
Approval to Operate (AO). The DoD IPv6 TO has developed a security risk
management framework and process that will help DoD managers perform and
document security risk management for IPv6 network deployments.
4. DoD IPv6 test and evaluation planning
The DoD IPv6 TO is developing a comprehensive System Engineering Management
Plan (SEMP) to coordinate the complex set of activities needed to transition
the DoD infrastructure to IPv6. A critical component of the overall plan
is the Test and Evaluation (T&E) Master Plan, also under development
within the TO. The T&E Plan identifies test activities required to
achieve the critical milestones such as Authority to Operate and the subsequent
levels of advanced IPv6 integration. Specifically, the plan fosters research
and development in the DoD IPv6 requirements definition as well as test
methodologies, tools, and techniques. To optimize resources, the T&E
plan relies on a collaborative test environment distributed among the
DoD components, agencies, and services with the DoD IPv6 TO acting as
the central coordinator.
5. DoD IPv6 Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure planning
The existing DNS environment within the DoD is not yet prepared for the
adoption of IPv6. The DoD IPv6 TO is actively planning and preparing for
the transition to IPv6 while respecting that stability of the existing
operational DoD system is an essential and prime concern. The IPv6 DNS
augmentation template that is being developed for each delegation point
preserves existing IPv4 capabilities while introducing IPv6 capabilities
for those systems that are IPv6 aware. The template will be deployed first
at the .MIL delegation, starting at the apex of the DoD DNS responsibility
and then in an iterative manner through the rest of the DoD maintained
DNS delegation hierarchy. Since the capabilities of DNS support vary from
delegation to delegation, an audit will be conducted of the entire DoD
DNS hierarchy to ensure all DNS service within the DoD operate to a common
threshold of conformance.
6. DoD IPv6 applications transition planning
It is critical that a common approach and methodology be used across the
DoD for application transition planning. The DoD IPv6 TO has developed
guidance for the initial planning and an audit process to be conducted
by the managers and engineers responsible for application transition.
The purpose of this audit is to assess which systems can start the transition
to IPv6 and identify commercial/government-off-the-shelf (COTS/GOTS),
network infrastructure, and cross agency/system transition dependencies.
In addition, the audit will provide better planning data for resource
estimates.
7. DoD IPv6 ad hoc networking
An essential characteristic of DoD operational communications that differentiates
it from commercial services is tactical mobility and ad hoc networking
in adverse environments. Recognizing the importance of dynamic mobile
ad hoc networking to the success of DoD tactical net-centric warfare,
the DoD IPv6 TO is defining the characteristics, objectives, benefits,
and issues associated with mobile ad hoc IPv6 networking. The TO is identifying
the technical status of IPv6 technology and surveying industry implementations
to evaluate IPv6 support for full scale operational deployment of mobile
mesh tactical networks. In addition to identifying the features of IPv6
that potentially improve combat capabilities, the DoD IPv6 TO is defining
the metrics to measure such improvements.
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