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In 2020, the U.S. Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps initiated a mission to transform into the Army’s data-centric Corps. Based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, this Corps, known as “America’s Contingency Corps,” serves as the strategic response force prepared to deploy globally for the defense of the United States and its allies. To realize their data-oriented goals, the XVIII Airborne Corps aimed to create the first sustainable tactical cloud environment for the conventional Army, partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to facilitate their endeavors.
Collaborating with various defense agencies, organizations, and commercial partners including AWS, the Army Enterprise Cloud Management Agency, and the Army Analytics Group, the Corps launched the “Dragon Cloud” initiative and devised a strategy to establish their tactical cloud infrastructure. Initially, they developed a proof of concept (POC) to validate the cloud’s feasibility and showcase its potential operational advantages. This POC integrated contributions from other divisions to create a comprehensive solution that could be fine-tuned and ultimately implemented across the Army. Utilizing AWS GovCloud (US), the team constructed the POC cloud environment at Impact Level 5 (IL 5), providing an unclassified dedicated space. Within this framework, they created applications designed by Soldiers, demonstrating their functionality in a cloud setting. Given that these applications were not originally cloud-native, successfully migrating them and proving their interoperability further confirmed the cloud’s potential.
After the POC’s success, the XVIII Airborne Corps commenced the development of an operational classified cloud environment capable of processing data at Impact Level 6 (IL 6), with ongoing support from AWS and the Enterprise Cloud Management Agency. The Dragon Cloud IL 6 environment will leverage commercial innovations and integrated managed features to enhance network reliability, flexibility, and agility. AWS Cloud capabilities will also ease the administrative burden on Army network administrators, allowing for the deployment of server infrastructure in a matter of minutes rather than days. Moreover, the established reliability of cloud resources will enhance availability and performance for users. The automatic scaling of resources will introduce a new level of adaptability in Army information systems, ensuring that mission command systems can adjust based on workload, thus providing unprecedented application agility.
The Dragon Cloud IL 6 environment is being designed for global accessibility. By minimizing the logistical challenges of deploying extensive physical server stacks at the tactical edge, Commanders can utilize cloud computing to access mission command applications from virtually anywhere. They can anticipate a 60% reduction in hardware requirements when deploying forces away from their home stations, enhancing flexibility and responsiveness. The capability to host real-time strategic data in the cloud allows users to effectively operate in distributed environments at the tactical edge over a continuous data fabric. These advancements promise a more consistent, reliable, and accessible network at significantly lower costs.
The future network that Commanders will rely on to secure victories in upcoming conflicts must be exceptionally agile, flexible, reliable, and sustainable. Dragon Cloud is poised to fulfill these requirements while facilitating the use of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI). The innovations encompassed within Dragon Cloud are essential to addressing the mission command needs of the Army of tomorrow.
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