Federated Mission Networking (FMN) is a significant initiative to help ensure the interoperability and operational effectiveness of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The purpose of FMN is ultimately to support Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) and decision-making in operations by enabling the rapid instantiation of mission networks.
The respective requirements, architecture, standards, procedures, and technical instructions are documented in the so-called "FMN Spiral Specifications."
[8][9] Through the experience of ISAF in Afghanistan, the value of a coalition-wide network was made clear: greater situational awareness facilitates more effective decision-making.
The FMN Concept envisions a world in which the commander of an operation effectively performs end-to-end processes and shares information in a coalition environment.
The FMN concept reflects a clear lesson learned: Operational experience has irrefutably demonstrated that a federated mission network is the best means to create this common, mission-wide data and information sharing environment.
The implementation of this concept will impact the development of the doctrine, organization, training, and requires contributions and participation of the operational community.
[17] The IV assessment, based on product testing that takes place as part of the normal quality manufacturing process, looks at how well the technology meets FMN spiral Specifications and can be implemented.
At this stage (Spiral 2 as of June 2019), Belgium disposes of a capability enabler (the Mission Defense Network), which offers minimum services to allow deployed troops to communicate, share, and exchange information with partners in a secure way, and automatically.
Canada's C4ISR Vision[18] outlines the importance of interoperability with its Joint, Interagency, Multinational, and Public (JIMP) partners and sets strategic objectives to achieve it within both the enduring and episodic domains of its Military Integrated Information Infrastructure (MI3).
The initiative 'German Mission Network' aims to create improved command and control capabilities for the German armed forces.
The 'Harmonization of Command and Control Information Systems' program (Harmonisierung der Führungsinformationssysteme, HaFIS) is the first to spearhead this challenge with a planned successive enlargement to other projects over the following years.
In recognizing that FMN is more than just creating interoperable C2 systems, like the Netherlands, Norway is seeking to adopt the entire concept of Federation and Networking from a DOTMLPF-I perspective.
For the first time PMN was successfully implemented during Exercise Anakonda 2016 as the main part of a federation based on five Mission Network Elements.
The United Kingdom has built upon its experiences in Afghanistan to develop mission configurable capabilities as described in Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.
The United States implementation program is known under the name of 'Mission Partner Environment' (MPE)[24] and it reflects US DoD desire to be an FMN affiliate.