DoD Architecture Framework Volume II: Product Descriptions

As described in Volume I, the DoD is committed to making operations net-centric; that is, enabling the ability to share information when it is needed, where it is needed, and with those who need it. Net-centricity is an information superiority-enabled concept of operations that generates increased combat power by networking sensors, decision makers, and shooters to achieve shared awareness, increased speed of command, higher tempo of operations, greater lethality, increased survivability, and a degree of self-synchronization. In essence, net-centricity translates information superiority into combat power by effectively linking knowledgeable entities in the battlespace8. Accordingly, as the Department’s architectures align to support netcentricity and NCO, the DoDAF will undergo appropriate transformation. The DoDAF v1.5 is provided as guidance for architects to begin representing net-centric architectural constructs, Network Centric Warfare: Developing and Leveraging Information Superiority, within the DoDAF v1.5 views and products, while remaining backward compatible with DoDAF v1.0 products which may still be sufficient for architectures that have yet to address the NCE.

To identify the specific net-centric constructs that may be represented in the various operational, systems and services, and technical standards views, a set of high-level net-centric concepts were decomposed into specific elements and attributes that enable an architecture product to document how the subject architecture supports net-centricity. For example, services are a key means to share information and capabilities in the NCE through published service interfaces. In the context of net-centric concepts, a service is a self-contained function in which consumers interact through a well-defined interface. Using this principle, the consumer does not know (or care) "how" the service implements the requested action - only that the service performs "what" is defined by its published interface. As the SV-1 product depicts systems interfaces, the details of how the service interfaces are implemented can be captured in the SV-2 by depicting different views between services.