Coalition Interoperability – Federated Mission Networking (FMN)

Challenge

Early iterations of NATO’s Afghan Mission Network revealed major shortcomings: disparate national modernisation plans, unstructured component lists masquerading as architecture, and no unified approach for end-to-end information interoperability. FMN required a scalable architecture method spanning tactical to strategic levels while accommodating bilateral (2-EYES, CJEF) and multilateral (NATO, FVEYS, JEF) obligations.

Solution

ASU placed its Chief Enterprise Architect as the UK VNC Liaison Officer, leading FMN architectural activity for three years. Key actions included:

• Architecture Task Force creation – proposed and chaired a task force that harmonised architectural outputs across all FMN working groups (WGs).
• Mission-Thread methodology – developed methods and conventions enabling every WG to produce FMN Mission Threads, ensuring traceability from operational need to technical solution.
• Interaction model – mapped interactions among FMN WGs, NATO Strategic Commands (ACO, ACT), and the NATO C3 Board sub-structures, clarifying governance and accelerating decision-making.
• Continuous liaison – provided expert briefing to UK MOD leadership, aligning national capabilities (NSoIT(D), LETACIS spirals, CIAS CAB) with coalition requirements.

Outcome

The Architecture Task Force unified previously fragmented efforts, embedding enterprise architecture as the backbone for FMN capability development. Tangible results included:

• Identification of critical gaps (e.g., urgent need for a functioning Registry capability, budget governance, mobile IT provision).
• A robust FMN baseline architecture built on mission-thread artefacts, enabling month-by-month solution evolution.
• Clear governance recommendations — benefits-realisation planning, stakeholder analysis and programme-of-work reporting now adopted by the FMN Management Group.
• Enhanced UK influence within NATO: UK MOD decisions are now underpinned by architecture evidence, while NATO partners leverage the ASU-devised approach to generate “just-enough, just-in-time” mission-thread material.

ASU’s leadership transformed FMN from a collection of component lists into an evidence-driven, interoperable architecture framework, strengthening coalition readiness and interoperability across the Alliance.