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In 2026, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) will advance a major modernization effort to consolidate combatant command networks worldwide into a single, cloud-based environment designed to strengthen security and improve interoperability.
The Mission Network-as-a-Service program aims to break down disparate, geographically-siloed networks used by individual COCOMs (Combatant Command) into a unified network known as COCOMNet. First previewed by the Pentagon’s chief information office in September, the program is expected to remain a top DISA priority throughout 2026, according to Deputy Director Chris Barnhurst.
“We want to provide on-demand network services. We want a standard security baseline based on a zero-trust architecture — in our heads that’s our Thunderdome architecture for zero-trust network access. And we want global reach with local mission agility,” Barnhurst said Thursday during a speech at an event hosted by AFCEA.
Under the Defense Department’s current network architecture, users are segregated by geographic location and unable to see the entire environment — making data sharing and command-and-control between different combatant commands inefficient.
COCOMNet is intended to address those limitations by creating a cloud-based, secret fabric with federally managed transport that spans regions and eliminates geographic siloes.
“Combatant commanders need to be able to communicate globally. So what they plug into, it’s got to work and it’s got to be able to get data across different regions of the world,” Barnhurst said.
Security for the unified network will be built on zero-trust principles and supported by a federated identity, credential, and access management (ICAM) framework. This capability will manage user identities and credentials needed to access the network.
A key challenge, however, will be making sure that collapsing disparate networks does not prevent combatant commands from executing on their respective local mission requirements, Barnhurst noted. DISA plans to apply lessons learned from its ongoing transition to DODNet, a comparable effort to unify defense agencies, to maintain flexibility as it works through the problem.
“In the defense agency world as we deliver DODNet … they have certain mission applications that they need to be able to access through their common IT,” Barnhurst said. “So locally, we have to make sure that even though we have a standard architecture and baseline that we’re delivering in DODNet to all of those components, we’ve got to have little tweaks in the agility and the ability to let them do their mission with their mission apps in a secure way.”
COCOMNet could play a critical role in the Department’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) initiative. The new warfighting concept aims to connect sensors, platforms, and weapons across the joint force to enable faster data-driven decision-making for commanders in the Armed Forces.
Barnhurst noted that success of the Mission Network-as-a-Service program will require close collaboration with combatant commands, service CIOs, and industry partners.
“We’ve got to work with the commands themselves and put this in priority order and start to execute on those changes over the next 12 months,” he said.
The full article can be found on Defense Scoop’s website.
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