Joint Mission Environment Test Capability (JMETC)

The Joint Mission Environment Test Capability (JMETC) program provides a Department-wide test capability to support system-to-system interoperability testing, mission-level environment testing, and cyber event operations, including cyber testing, cyber training, cyber experimentation, and cyber mission rehearsal. The JMETC program implements the infrastructure capabilities defined in the Department’s “Testing in a Joint Environment Roadmap” to provide acquisition program managers a robust nation-wide capability to “test like we fight.” The JMETC program provides a persistent, distributed test and evaluation (T&E) capability that supports system development to measure and improve interoperability performance and cyber resiliency, and provides a software acquisition pathway that otherwise would not be readily available to Service/Component acquisition programs. The JMETC program is funded within the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) Management Support Budget Activity because it provides test capability in support of RDT&E programs. By linking distributed facilities, as well as providing the necessary tools, services and subject matter expertise, the JMETC program allows acquisition programs to efficiently evaluate their warfighting capability in a realistic joint mission environment. The JMETC program has been aligned to national strategic guidance to advance the Department’s readiness to experiment and test the development of resilient, survivable, federated networks and information systems from the tactical level up to strategic planning, as well as test and assess cyber defenses that deter aggression and achieve peace through strength.

The National Cyber Range Complex (NCRC) is composed of cyber ranges and a secure distributed network infrastructure to service the cyber range user community. The NCRC currently consists of five functional cyber ranges, including the National Cyber Range in Florida as well as four Regional Service Delivery Points (RSDP) located in Hawaii, Alabama, Maryland, and Massachusetts. To enhance the Department’s cyber range test and training capability and capacity, the NCRC is being expanded with additional cyber ranges co-located with key Service organizations at Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic (NIWC LANT), SC; Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River), MD; and 46th Test Wing Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), FL to support an increase of cyber testing of Blue systems as well as training of cyber warfighters. The JMETC Multiple Independent Level of Security (MILS) Network (JMN) currently links sites across the Department, industry, and academia, providing secure access between cyber ranges, laboratories, and facilities. Both the cyber ranges and the network infrastructure are accredited to support multiple levels of security classifications, specifically configured to meet particular cyber event requirements. The NCRC investments have been aligned to support the National Defense Strategy in improving cyber defense, cyber resilience, cyber lethality, and the continued integration of cyber capabilities into the full spectrum of military operations. The NCRC conducts cyberspace test and training events for the full spectrum of Department customers including research, development, acquisition, testing, training and operational Cyber Mission Forces (CMF). The NCRC executes wide variety of event types including science and technology (S&T) demonstrations, developmental test and evaluation (DT&E), operational test and evaluation (OT&E), security controls assessments, capability assessments, cyberspace operations training, development and refinement of cyberspace tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP), cyber forensics/malware analysis) and cyberspace operations mission rehearsal. The NCRC enables acquisition programs to conduct cybersecurity test and evaluation in an operationally representative cyberspace environment enabling identification, validation and mitigation of vulnerabilities.