Joint Communications Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JCAUS)

Abstract

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (ATandL) Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise (JGRE) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OASD RandE) support a new joint initiative to establish an unmanned systems communications framework called Joint Communications Architecture for Unmanned Systems (JCAUS). It is an architecture for a Family of Communications Systems (FoCS) that enforces industry standards, encourages rapid technology insertion, and fosters industry innovation and competition. This architecture adopts the Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA) principals aiming to reduce total ownership cost, accelerate technology transformation, and improve interoperability among the Department of Defense (DoD) Unmanned aerial/ground Systems (UxS) programs. This paper provides the background and technology highlights of the JCAUS program.