Navy Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6) Transition Strategy in Support of Network-Centric Operations and Warfare

Network-centric warfare is the operational concept that provides information sharing amongst a large array of networked nodes, including mobile platforms, sensors, space systems, weapons, munitions and war fighters. This information sharing enhances battle space situation awareness, which allows war fighters to get the right information at the right time and place, and to make the right decisions ahead of adversaries. IPv6 is an enabling technology of network-centric operations and warfare for improving the scalability, robustness, agility, security, flexibility and manageability of military communication systems. The large address space, built-in stateless node discovery, Internet Protocol (IP) Security (IPSec) and mobility functions offered in IPv6 will be an important enabler for information sharing and distribution amongst war fighters in a dynamic battle space environment.