Submarine Communications
Master Plan
(December 1995)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Submarine Communications Master Plan (SCMP) is an integral part of the Submarine
Force Strategic Plan. It is an integrated and comprehensive document that promulgates: (a)
current and projected submarine communications requirements, (b) overall acquisition strategy,
(c) program schedules, and (d) component program descriptions. It has been developed by the
Submarine Communications Program Manager (Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
[SPAWAR] PMW 173) for the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations (ACNO), Submarine
Warfare Division (N87) and the Director, Space and Electronic Warfare (N6). It is intended for
use by military staffs, systems commands, and industry in planning, developing, and fielding
submarine communications systems.
The end of the Cold War brought about policy changes which have already dramatically altered
the focus of naval doctrine and spawned a new theater of “Information Warfare.” Emphasis is
now placed on Joint and Combined operations in the littoral regions of the world rather than on
massive, open-ocean engagements of past scenarios. National policy shifts, in concert with
Department of Defense (DOD) budget and force structure drawdowns, have infused the Navy’s
Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C 4 I) programs with new
importance. To remain an effective fighting force in this changed environment, the submarine
must be indispensable to the Battle Group.
The ongoing world telecommunications revolution is driving both military and civilian
information transfer systems toward a design of open architecture, multicast resource, shared and
integrated networks; the most common example being the commercial telephone system. Under
the Copernicus concept, the Navy will provide seamless, transparent, secure communications
between the fleet and the entire global grid. For the Submarine Force to be interoperable with
Joint and Navy systems, our submarines must be able to communicate within the same
communications environment. Although our existing submarine communications systems have
been proven to be robust and reliable, they are limited to low data rates and feature “stove-piped,”
closed system architectures which are not compatible with the emerging technologies,
and are costly to maintain and upgrade. In an effort to alleviate these problems, Commander,
Submarine Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (COMSUBLANT) and Commander, Submarine Forces,
U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) have issued coordinated submarine communications
requirements. The phased improvements in submarine connectivity requirements are illustrated
in Figure (i).
Execution of this SCMP implements these requirements and integrates the Submarine Force into
the Navy’s overall communications upgrade by transitioning the force to a standard Submarine
Communications Support System (SCSS) which will be fully interoperable with the Navy’s
Communication Support System (CSS). The SCSS is a cost-effective system architecture which
will be common to all classes of submarines, with each class having only minor variations to
account for installation and interface differences. This comprehensive development and
installation plan integrates all current communications improvement programs in a phased
delivery. To achieve full interoperability, the Submarine Force will be an active participant in
the development of new systems and applications including the Navy’s CSS and Joint Maritime
Command Information System (JMCIS), the Joint Staff’s “C 4 I for the Warrior” communication
architecture, and Defense Information Systems Agency’s (DISA) Global Command and Control
System (GCCS).
The Navy’s CSS acquisition strategy is to incrementally implement the new equipment, usually
simultaneously with Battle Group deployments. Although prototyping and interim installations
have already occurred and will continue, full scale CSS production is not scheduled until 1998.
The submarine acquisition strategy is to remain synchronized with the Navy CSS
implementation so that deploying submarines are interoperable within the Battle Groups. To
provide immediate benefit to the submarine force, we will conduct early, force-wide installations
of those portions of the Navy CSS that will be included in the ultimate design. For example, the
automated Baseband System (BBS) will be installed in submarines force-wide beginning in
1997. The resulting submarine CSS will be a hybrid of existing and new components integrated
into an open systems backbone that will allow for cost-effective insertion of new technology in
the future. New communication equipment and capabilities will be system engineered to
incrementally replace present submarine communication systems using “Block Upgrade”
installations in approximately two year increments. These installations will be scheduled to
coordinate multiple equipment upgrades to save installation costs and minimize submarine
downtime. Common, open systems architecture (OSA) hardware and software used by other
forces will be used whenever feasible. To take advantage of advances in commercial
technology, the active participation of industry will be requested and encouraged at all phases.
To provide near-term Battle Group interoperability, full demand assigned multiple access
(DAMA) capability will continue to be accelerated under the Miniaturized UHF DAMA
(Mini-DAMA) and Improved AN/BRA-34 antenna programs. To improve submarine radio
room operability, the Submarine Message Buffer (SMB) program has been expanded to include
fully automated message processing, electronic internal distribution, and replacement of the
current UGC-136 teletypes with a quiet, reliable commercial printer. The communications suites
on all submarine classes will be managed as an integrated program with close coordination
between the fleet users, Systems Commands, and the larger Navy/Joint community. During and
after the transition to SCSS, SSBNs must maintain survivable/nuclear hardened communications
to support strategic nuclear mission requirements in accordance with the Chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff (CJCS) Nuclear Technical Performance Criteria.
This plan contains the following information:
SECTION 1: Underlying Concepts
SECTION 2: Communications System Requirements
SECTION 3: Submarine Communications Support System
SECTION 4: Submarine Antennas
SECTION 5: Submarine Communications Support System Acquisition and
Implementation Strategies
The overall planned SCSS Implementation Strategy schedule is illustrated in Tab A, which is
located directly after Section 5 of this document. A list of all acronyms is contained in the
glossary (Appendix F).
