From left: Andrew Harms, James Talor, Tadeusz Wysocki, Elsbeth Magilton, Hau Chan, Peter Muhlberger, Mehmet C. Vuran, Spyridon Mastorakis, Nicolas Lalone
The National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska (NU) in collaboration with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Omaha has convened an interdisciplinary research team to harness the intellectual capacity of the university for the benefit of the future nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) operational capabilities supporting United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).
Through a series of workshops and customer engagements, the team of nine researchers and faculty will collect the modeling and simulation capabilities and expertise across the NC3 mission space that currently exists in the NU system. They will also identify capability gaps and work to find solutions to fill those gaps.
This collected data will be used to establish a robust research capability that can execute deliverables and create solutions to fulfill the needs of USSTRATCOM’s NC3 Enterprise Center (NEC).
“We are constantly working with our university colleagues to evolve our thinking and our capacity to serve USSTRATCOM, sponsor of our University Affiliated Research Center, to deliver mission-relevant solutions to their toughest challenges,” said Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Hinson, NSRI executive director. “With this dynamic team assembled, this initiative has the potential to create a future-focused mechanism for the university, STRATCOM and other federal agencies to gain tangible research, analysis, products and solutions to 21st century problems.”
Project team members include:
Andrew Harms (PI)
Assistant professor
Electrical and computer engineering
UNL
Tadeusz Wysocki
Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
UNL
James Taylor
Director
STRATCOM Mission Systems
NSRI
Elisbeth Magilton
Executive Director
Technology, Security, and Space Law Initiatives
College of Law
UNL
Hau Chan
Department
Computer Science and Engineering
UNL
Peter Muhlberger
Research Associate Professor
Public Policy
UNL
Mehmet C. Vuran
Susan J. Rosowski Professor
Computer Science and Engineering
UNL
Spyridon Mastorakis
Assistant Professor
Computer Science
UNO
Nicolas Lalone
Assistant Professor
Information Systems & Quantitative Analysis
UNO
Formed in 2018 in response to the Secretary of Defense designating the commander of USSTRATCOM as the NC3 Enterprise lead, the NEC was tasked with supporting operations, requirements generation and systems engineering and integration across all currently operational NC3 mission areas. This responsibility includes the “next generation” of NC3 capabilities and the ever-challenging requirement to deliver reliable, endurable and secure communications carrying the nation’s most important decisions in the most stressful environments.
As this new organization tackles the important challenge of maintaining the viability of current NC3 capabilities, it must simultaneously explore future technologies and innovations to enable warfighter-driven capabilities that will outpace advanced threats in a future operating environment that spans from 2030 to 2080.
This project was created through NU's Collaboration Initiative and approved through external review. With efforts kicking off this June, the anticipated completion date of this initial work is fall 2021.
“The NC3 mission is sometimes referred to as the ‘fourth leg’ of our nuclear triad,” Taylor said. “Without a reliable, assured and redundant NC3 system to support our nuclear forces, they can’t do their mission.
“I’m excited about the opportunity and proud of how the University of Nebraska is coming together to support our USSTRATCOM sponsor to bring talent and innovation to address this critical national security challenge.”
